SHANE RICE: “Soft” isn’t weak: What great coaching really looks like

EVERY club has heard it: “Players today are softer.” It’s an easy line to throw out when a session dips or a result goes against you. But in Gaelic football, that thinking can hold coaches back. Modern players live in a different world; school, work, social media, long travel and they adapt to the demands they face. That’s the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands) in plain English: bodies and minds adapt to whatever they’re exposed to. If life stress is up and unstructured graft is down, players arrive with a different baseline. Our job isn’t to moan about it; our job is to coach it.

Hard standards, soft skills

Being “soft” as a coach doesn’t mean low standards. It means high support with high challenge. Tell players you care, show them you’re invested, and then hold the line on effort, behaviours, and team rules. In GAA terms: know their exams, their shifts, their knocks and still expect them to chase back, track runners, and execute the kick-out plan. Players run harder for coaches who have their back.

Individual before program

We all individualise conditioning loads; we should individualise communication loads too. Some lads need direct feedback; some need a quiet word. One minor might need pushing up a grade to face adversity; another needs a confidence block at his own level. The question is never “Are players soft?” It’s “What does this player need to grow?” That’s good S&C and good coaching.

Use the village, not the city

Great clubs feel like villages: clear roles, joined-up messages, and supporters onside. Set expectations early; how we train, how we recover, what ‘team first’ means. Show simple visuals for the season plan so questions don’t feel like challenges to authority. Supporters and players who understand the “why” behind sessions become allies, not obstacles.

Toughness that transfers to Sundays

Game-real conditioning: small-sided games with rules that stress your principles (e.g six-second shot clock after a turnover; bonus for breaking the lines).

Role clarity: corner-backs know their cues; midfielders know restart maps; half-forwards know press triggers. Clarity = confidence = toughness.

Honest reviews: praise what you want repeated, and address gaps with clear actions – not public takedowns.

Coaching the mind like the body

We plan speed, power, and volume. Do the same for the psychological load:

Pre-season: build belonging (names, stories, standards), teach pressure skills (breathing on the tee, reset routines after turnovers).

In-season: microdose stress, scoreline handicaps in games, last-kick scenarios, 30 seconds to win. Pressure becomes familiar, not frightening.

Exam blocks and busy weeks: shift to shorter, sharper sessions; keep standards, trim volume. Protect sleep and fuel. That’s not soft, that’s smart.

The coach players want on the sideline

Technology can track metres and heart rates. But the reason a player digs in for a lost cause ball isn’t a spreadsheet, it’s relationship and trust. Be present. Admit when you’re wrong. Explain decisions. Expect the best. Players will accept hard calls if they know you care and the standards apply to everyone.

The takeaway

In GAA, “soft skills” create hard teams. Caring doesn’t lower the bar; it lifts the buy-in.

The modern coach blends old-school standards with new-school understanding, turns stress into practice, and makes bravery a habit. Stop asking if players are softer.

Start asking what you can do, today, to help them become fitter, tougher, smarter footballers when the game is on the line.

Gaelic Athletic Academy – Shane Rice